MnCO3, an important raw material, exhibits attractive properties and significant industrial applications. However, few concerns have been raised on the fabrication of its 1D nanostructures. In this paper, a novel detached system was successfully employed for the preparation of MnCO3 nanowires by a surfactant-assisted solvothermal treatment using N,N-dimethylformamide as the solvent and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as the surfactant. X-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy were employed to study the crystal structure and morphologies of the products. Experiments showed that the detached system, solvent, surfactant and reaction time were critical for the formation of the MnCO3 nanowires. The thermal characterization was studied by differential scanning calorimetric analysis and thermogravimetric analysis measurements. The experimental results demonstrated that the as-prepared MnCO3 nanocrystals can act as an efficient precursor for production of homomorphous Mn3O4 and alpha-Mn2O3 nanostructures by calcination at 400 degrees C under the atmosphere of argon and air, respectively. A possible growth mechanism for the MnCO3 nanowires was also proposed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.